2009 Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Black Series

A Benz from the Dark Side, with DTM-inspired bodywork and a twin-turbo twelve.

With the U.S. economy in a recession and the worldwide automotive market struggling...could there be a worse time for to launch the $300,000 SL65 AMG Black Series? Maybe not. Maybe the Black Series is exactly what we need — a twin-turbocharged boost of fresh air, a rolling testament to all that is good and fun in the car world. Sometimes you just have to live a little. The gargantuan race-car-like fenders draw people to the Black Series like bugs to a windshield. Mired in Los Angeles traffic, people were laughing, cheering, waving and giving thumbs-up signs as the Black Series drove by — few cars have the mesmeric effect of this silver-bullet Benz. At one point a guy in a Mugen shot across five lanes of traffic to follow the Black Series off an exit, just so he could get a closer look.

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Based on the , the Black Series adds an all-new body and ditches the non-purist retractable roof in favor of a fixed carbon-fiber version with an integrated rollbar. Thanks to the use of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) for the front fenders, hood, front fascia and trunklid, Mercedes says 210 lb. have been shaved off the standard car. The Black Series' second most imposing feature is its deep front fascia, dominated by two huge, mesh-covered air intakes which feed the twin charge coolers (M-B says the extra air makes them 30 percent more effective) for the turbocharged V-12. One minor annoyance: The carbon-fiber fuel flap was hard to open and didn't sit flush with the body.

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The blistered fenders aren't just for show; they're necessary to house the AMG forged-alloy wheels, 19 x 9½ at the front, 20 x 11½ at the rear, shod with 265/35ZR-19 front and 325/30ZR-20 rear Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT tires. As you can imagine, grip is incredible, to the tune of 0.99g around the skidpad.

The hand-built sohc 36-valve 6.0-liter twin-turbo V-12 that resides under the carbon-fiber hood is a breathed-on version of the standard SL65's. By fitting larger turbos, a new air intake and a less restrictive (and better sounding) exhaust, AMG engineers squeezed out another 57 bhp to bring the total to 661 bhp at 5400 rpm (versus the SL65's 604 at 4800). Torque figures for the SL65 and Black Series remain identical at 738 lb.-ft. The Black Series exhibits a surprising amount of turbo lag, but this can actually help during tight back-road driving, as it means you'll probably be exiting the turn you're negotiating by the time full power comes on — as opposed to being at the apex. And trust us, you want to be pointing straight when the Black Series unleashes its full, explosive force.

All that power is sent to the rear wheels through a 5-speed AMG Speedshift Plus automatic transmission. Armed with four different modes (City, Sport, M1 and M2), steering-wheel-mounted aluminum paddle shifters and an "automatic double clutch function" that blips the throttle on manual downshifts, the system is a bit of a letdown. Even in M2 mode, which M-B claims is 20 percent quicker, shifts are luxury-car slow, and the best we can say about the throttle blipping is that it makes an attempt.

Regardless, the Black Series builds pavement-ripping power from 2000 rpm, which actually makes clean launches difficult because of its constant desire to spin the tires. As such, our best 0–60-mph time was 3.9 seconds, compared to the standard SL65's 3.7. That's also quite a bit slower than the , which accomplishes the same in 3.2 sec. with the assistance of launch control. The Black Series gains back some time on the SL65 in the quarter mile, matching its 11.8-sec. run, but with a higher trap speed of 126.3 mph versus the SL65's 121.6. But the is long gone, completing the quarter in 11.2. Take away the Ferrari's launch control and add in the Merc's more accessible low-end power, and you'd have quite the (expensive) match race.